Poland’s representative to the European Union, Andrzej Sadoś, told colleagues in Brussels that the draft regulation on crisis situations within the Migration and Asylum Pact could allow the European Commission to freely set how many migrants would be relocated. He reportedly opposed such provisions, according to information from PAP sources.
In Brussels, the final component of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, the crisis-regulation, is being considered at the working-group level. The topic came up on Wednesday during a meeting of the ambassadors of member states.
What does the project entail?
From Poland’s perspective, the draft regulation on crisis situations not only reiterates the de facto mandatory nature of relocation, but also gives the European Commission latitude to determine the relocation numbers. Sadoś is said to have noted, at the Brussels meeting, that if relocation were halted, the EC could decide the financial equivalent that EU countries would owe for migrants they refuse to accept.
According to PAP, the Polish diplomat indicated at the Brussels gathering that these provisions are found in article 7 in the context of article 8 of the draft regulation.
He stressed that the European Commission would always independently communicate to EU member states the number of migrants that will be relocated to each country.
On June 30, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a post-EU-summit conference in Brussels that Poland stands ready to pursue a suit before the Court of Justice of the European Union if there is any violation of the 2018 European Council conclusions on relocation. He emphasized that Poland believes the 2018 decision remains the applicable rule in this area.
The principle of voluntariness remains the key solution
The conclusions from the June 2018 EU summit affirm that migrants who enter the EU should be directed to reception centers in member states on a voluntary basis, with a distinction drawn between irregular migrants who should depart the EU and those who require international protection. The conclusions also state that within these centers, relocation and resettlement should be voluntary.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson, who visited the Italian island of Lampedusa amid arrivals from North Africa, said at a briefing that a country that refuses to participate in the movement of migrants might face costs, not only to countries under pressure but also to third countries. These remarks followed an interview with TVN24 in which Johansson said that the Migration Pact, the EU framework for relocating migrants, is not binding in the way some had claimed.
In mid-June, Poland’s parliament passed a resolution opposing the EU mechanism for relocating irregular migrants, signaling a firm stance against the proposal. PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński stated in the Sejm that the relocation matter within the EU should be put to a public referendum.
For context, observers note that the ongoing discussions reflect deeper questions about member-state sovereignty, the distribution of responsibility among EU nations, and the credibility of EU commitments on asylum processing. The debate also touches on how voluntary or mandatory measures are designed to balance humanitarian obligations with national interests. Analysts point to the delicate diplomacy required to align member-state concerns with the EU’s broader migration-management framework. (Cited coverage: PAP; EU reporting outlets; sources aggregated in wPolityce summaries.)
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Source: wPolityce